AN: While this fic does stand on its own, it's meant as a companion piece for the first work in the series, which focuses on the ways Happy looks after Peter. This is the reversal of that, in which Peter returns the favor as often as he can because he's just a sweetheart like that. Thanks for reading!
"One in the tree, one under the footbridge, and two more down the block."
Peter's voice was a bit muffled by the mask, but it was still plenty clear enough for Happy to make out, even from his spot six feet beneath the top of light post Spider-Man was perched on.
"That all?" It was a surprisingly light day, then. The park—any of the parks within a reasonable radius of the New York penthouse, actually—were usually crawling with cameras and the vultures that operated them by this time of the morning. Still, Happy could be grateful for the little things. The fewer cameras there were, the easier it was to scout out peaceful routes for Pepper's—and occasionally Tony's, when she could cajole him into joining her—morning run.
"That's all I'm seeing," Peter said with a shrug, the lenses over his eyes narrowing as he scanned the network of footpaths visible from his vantage point again just to be sure. Happy knew there was more to it than just seeing—the kid had explained once, the first time he pointed out a cluster of particularly sneaky paparazzi at one of the networking mixers Tony had dragged him to for the official portion of his internship. There were heartbeats to pick out in places they shouldn't be (cloistered under a hors d'oeuvres table, crouched behind a screen of shrubbery, hidden beneath a parked car), suspicious shadows that unenhanced eyes like Happy's wouldn't notice, and the unexplainable tremors of his "spider-sense." Once Happy had picked his jaw up off his chest, he'd promptly stolen the kid from a slightly put-out Tony long enough to walk him around the hotel ballroom's perimeter. Peter, who was about as fond of the interminable handshakes and professional smiles as Happy was, grinned right along with him through the discovery and ejection of another three uninvited members of the press. "Yeah, just those four."
Happy gave a satisfied nod. Good. It wouldn't be difficult to find a clear route around so few. He had a good ten minutes before Pepper headed this direction. Plenty of time, although he had the feeling he needed to get going sooner rather than later. They were starting to attract attention from the smattering of early morning bikers and coffee cart vendors. Not that that was surprising for a casual chat between a man in a golf cart and a costumed superhero.
"Good," Happy rested one hand on the steering wheel and lifted the other in salute. "Thanks, kid."
"No worries, man!" Peter rocked back on his haunches, lifting a hand in preparation to swing away to whatever caught his attention next. He stayed busy this time of year, when school was out and there was little to keep him from bouncing around the city in the golden post-dawn hours and venturing past the borders of his own neighborhood to end up wherever his sense of adventure took him. Happy knew that much from the extra-long and extra giddy patrol reports that appeared in his voicemail every few nights. It was fairly obvious from the occasional glimpses he caught of the kid in passing, too, whether it was a Tarzan yell and a flash of red and blue overhead while Happy was out running errands ("managing assets," according to the job title on his checks) or a semi-intentional meeting like this one. Granted, the first time the kid had spotted him trawling the park for trouble and cheerfully offered his super-sensory help, it had been a chance meeting. Now, it was almost a routine. Peter showed up atop nearby lamp-posts or hanging upside down from tree limbs at least once a week; Happy couldn't say he minded.
Peter paused, cocking his head to one side.
"Kid?" Happy paused with his foot hovering over the gas pedal. So far, during the few times they'd crossed paths like this, the kid had never spotted any actual threats. Still, there was a first time for everything.
Peter let out a snicker. Not a frown or a warning or any sort of concern, but a snicker. Happy raised a brow at him.
"Spider-Man."
"So, ah...the dude under the footbridge? He just moved enough for me to actually see him, and that's totally Burt."
Happy let out a growl. Burt. Of course it was Burt. He revved the engine—as much as a puny golf cart engine could rev—and wheeled the cart around to speed off in the menace's direction. At this point, he was pretty sure he'd chased that man out of every Stark event and away from every private moment either one of his bosses had asked for since 2008.
"Run for your life, Burt!" Peter hollered, cackling faintly over the thwip and snap of a web shooting out into space. Happy glared at him in the split second before he was out of view, but found that he couldn't quite maintain the glower. He shook his head as he sped down the foot path in pursuit of the most persistent photographer in New York. His mornings were never dull...but they were a little easier these days than they used to be. And maybe—just maybe, if anyone asked—a little bit more fun.
AN: So, I don't know how many of you have seen that deleted scene from Infinity War with Tony, Pepper, and Happy, but this stems directly from that because that scene is HILARIOUS to me. I want a full Disney+ series of Happy and Burt's history, and if you haven't experienced that scene, you should definitely go check it out on YouTube.